A Seagulls Eye

In your eye
your reptilian shallow eye
the supposed
brutishness of the British
is all
Our Shakespearean louts and
doxies
Falstaffs companions
dripping and itching
are taken for all

Our seagulls see more
cold eyed as they are
wheeling like kites
on invisible strings
the seafront on a winters morning
is a sunny procession
an orderly promenade
all ages pace out the light
with the waves bouncing
diamonds off the sand
We did this here
in Victorian times
with big hats and parasols
now
a little girl drives her wheelchair
and beams freedom and joy
An old man with a stick
a survivor of bombers
good mornings
there are
pleasant conversations
babies , skaters
and the greetings of dogs